Category: Hosea

1 Just as the morning passes, so has the king of Israel passed by. For Israel was a child and I loved him; and out of Egypt I called my son.

2 They called them, and so they departed before their face. They offered victims to the Baals, and they sacrificed to graven images.

3 And I was like a foster father to Ephraim. I carried them in my arms. And they did not know that I healed them.

4 I will draw them with the cords of Adam, with the bands of love. And I will be to them like one who raises the yoke over their jaws. And I will reach down to him so that he may eat.

5 He will not return to the land of Egypt, but Assur himself will be the king over him, because they were not willing to be converted.

6 The sword has begun in his cities, and it will consume his elect and devour their heads.

7 And my people will long for my return. But a yoke will be imposed on them together, which will not be taken away.

8 How will I provide for you, Ephraim; how will I protect you, Israel? How will I provide for you as for Adam; will I set you like Zeboiim? My heart has changed within me; together with my regret, it has been stirred up.

9 I will not act on the fury of my wrath. I will not turn back to utterly destroy Ephraim. For I am God, and not man, the Divine in your midst, and I will not advance upon the city.

10 They will walk after the Lord; he will roar like a lion. For he himself will roar, and the sons of the sea will dread.

11 And they will fly like a bird out of Egypt, and like a dove from the land of the Assyrians. And I will arrange them in their own houses, says the Lord.

12 Ephraim has besieged me with denials, and the house of Israel with deceit. But Judah went down as a witness before God and the holy ones of faith.

1 Ephraim feeds on wind and follows burning heat; all day long he multiplies lies and desolation. And he has entered into a pact with the Assyrians, and he has carried oil into Egypt.

2 Therefore, the judgment of the Lord is with Judah and a visitation is upon Jacob. He will repay him according to his ways and according to his inventions.

3 In the womb, he supplanted his brother; for in his good fortune, he had been guided by an angel.

4 And he prevailed over an angel, for he had been strengthened. He wept and petitioned him. He found him in Bethel, and there he has spoken to us.

5 And the Lord God of hosts, the Lord is his memorial.

6 And so, you should convert to your God. Keep mercy and judgment, and have hope in your God always.

7 Canaan, in his hand is a deceitful balance, he has chosen false accusations.

8 And Ephraim has said, “Nevertheless, I have become rich; I have found an idol for myself. All of my labors will not reveal to me the iniquity that I have committed.”

9 And I, the Lord your God from the land of Egypt, nevertheless will cause you to dwell in tabernacles, just as during the days of the feast.

10 And I have spoken through the prophets, and I have multiplied visions, and I have used parables through the hands of the prophets.

11 If Gilead is an idol, then they have been sacrificing cattle in Gilgal to no purpose. For even their altars are like clutter on the soil of the field.

12 Jacob fled into the region of Syria, and Israel served like a wife, and was served by a wife.

13 Yet by a prophet the Lord led Israel out of Egypt, and he was served by a prophet.

14 Ephraim has provoked me to wrath with his bitterness, and his blood will overcome him, and his Lord will requite him for his shamefulness.

1 While Ephraim was speaking, a horror entered Israel, and he offended by Baal, and he died.

2 And now they add that they will be sinning more. And they have made themselves an image cast from their silver, just like the image of idols; but the whole thing has been made by craftsmen. These say to them, “Sacrifice men, you who adore calves.”

3 For this reason, they will be like the morning clouds, and like the morning dew that passes away, just like the dust that is driven by a whirlwind away from the threshing floor, and like the smoke from a chimney.

4 But I am the Lord your God from the land of Egypt, and you will not know God apart from me, and there is no Savior except me.

5 I knew you in the desert, in the land of solitude.

6 According to their pastures, they have been filled up and have been satisfied. And they have lifted up their heart, and they have forgotten me.

7 And I will be to them like a lioness, like a leopard in the way of the Assyrians.

8 I will run to meet them like a bear that has been robbed of her young, and I will split open the middle of their liver. And I will devour them there like a lion; the beast of the field will tear them apart.

9 Perdition is yours, Israel. Your help is only in me.

10 Where is your king? Now, especially, let him save you in all your cities, and from your judges, about whom you said, “Give me kings and princes.”

11 I will give you a king in my wrath, and I will take him away in my indignation.

12 The iniquity of Ephraim has been bound; his sin has been engulfed.

13 The pains of giving birth will reach him. He is an unwise son. For now he will not remain firm during the contrition of his sons.

14 I will free them from the hand of death; from death I will redeem them. Death, I will be your death. Hell, I will be your deadly wound. Consolation is hidden from my eyes.

15 For he will make a division among brothers. The Lord will bring a burning wind, rising up from the desert, and it will dry up his streams, and it will make his fountain desolate, and he will tear apart every collection of desirable useful things.

1 Let Samaria perish, because she has urged her God towards bitterness. Let them perish by the sword, let their little ones be thrown down, and let their pregnant women be cut in two.

2 Israel, convert to the Lord your God. For you have been ruined by your own iniquity.

3 Take these words with you and return to the Lord. And say to him, “Remove all iniquity and accept the good. And we will repay the calves of our lips.

4 Assur will not save us; we will not ride on horses. Neither will we say any more, ‘The works of our hands are our gods,’ for those that are in you will have mercy on the orphan.”

5 I will heal their contrition; I will love them spontaneously. For my wrath has been turned away from them.

6 I will be like the dew; Israel will spring forth like the lily, and his root will spread out like that of the cedars of Lebanon.

7 His branches will advance, and his glory will be like the olive tree, and his fragrance will be like that of the cedars of Lebanon.

8 They will be converted, sitting in his shadow. They will live on wheat, and they will grow like a vine. His memorial will be like the wine of the cedars of Lebanon.

9 Ephraim will say, “What are idols to me any more?” I will listen to him, and I will set him straight like a healthy spruce tree. Your fruit has been found by me.

10 Who is wise and will understand this? Who has understanding and will know these things? For the ways of the Lord are straight, and the just will walk in them, but truly, the traitors will fall in them.